Golden State Warriors Defy Norm Again By Not Selecting One-And-Done In NBA Draft

Thursday night, the Golden State Warriors selected junior Jordan Bell (#1) out of Oregon with the 38th pick in the draft.(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

In an NBA Draft with the most freshmen (16) ever selected in the first round and the fewest seniors (2) picked of all-time, the Golden State Warriors again went against the grain -- valuing experience over youth and potential.

The newly crowned champs went into Thursday night's draft with no picks, before trading $3.5 million to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the rights to the 38th overall pick. The Warriors went on to select Jordan Bell, a junior power forward out of the University of Oregon.

Golden State's immense success can be credited, in part, to their refusal to draft college freshmen, and instead picking veteran college players that spent multiple years in school developing their skills.

This goes against recent trends, where teams generally prefer to select college freshmen who show outsize potential. This is evident as 2017 was the first time in league history that each of the first five draft selections were one-and-done and 10 of the first 11 picks were freshmen (with the lone exception Frank Ntilikina of France being selected ninth overall by the New York Knicks ).

The one-and-done phenomenon was born out of a 2006 ruling that requires players to be 19 or at least one full year removed from high school graduation to be eligible to play in the NBA. The ruling had a seemingly inverse effect of its intended goal – to have players spend time in college. Top players instead enroll for about a semester and a half, as they often drop out of class once the NCAA season is over.

This, and other factors, has led to a massive debate over whether the age restriction should be eliminated or increased.

The Warriors Don't Follow The Trend

While Warriors General Manager Bob Myers claimed earlier in the week the team just wants to pick "the best player available," there is undoubtedly a trend to their draft strategy. Following the pick of Bell, 10 of the last 11 Golden State draft picks that attended college played more than one year of NCAA ball (notable players such as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson each spent three-years at school and Draymond Green played all four years).

Bell, who played three-years at Oregon and was the 2017 PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Year, may prove to be the next Draymond Green -- someone he has compared himself to.

Like Green, Bell (listed at 6'9") is an undersized forward whose game is revolved around stingy defense. Both defied the norm by spending multiple years in college and then were selected by the Warriors in the second round.

When Green was drafted 35th overall in 2012, no one expected a relatively unheralded prospect would go on to be a two-time All-Star, a two-time All-Defensive First Team selection or a finalist for the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year award.

Perhaps like Green, Bell's multiple years playing college ball will pay dividends, and he is an unknown star in the making.

I am a summer intern working on the Top Colleges Team, as well as a rising senior at the University of Michigan where I study English and entrepreneurship. During my freshman and sophomore years, I was a member of Michigan’s Division I varsity wrestling team. After two year...